Ruby Seadragon Captured on Video

Scientists capture on video the mysterious Ruby Seadragon.

Our planet’s ocean holds a myriad of marine ecosystems which many remain unexplored. As such, it is no surprise that scientists are able to find new species of marine animals every so often. Among one of the most recently discovered species is the ruby seadragon which was even captured on video for the first time.

Until now, scientists have discovered a total of three species of seadragons, the Common, Leafy and the Ruby seadragon. However, the first two species are quite well documented and were observed in their natural system plenty of times, the ruby seadragon proved more elusive.

Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego, in collaboration with scientists from the Western Australian Museum have conducted a scientific expedition to film the mysterious animals in the wild, just off the coast of Western Australia.

The research team used a small remotely operated vehicle, equipped with a camera, to explore the waters at around 164-feet deep. It was only several days of exploring that the researchers were able to capture the first sightings of the mysterious species in the wild. They filmed two Ruby Seadragons near the Recherche Archipelago of Western Australia, and the scientists have new information regarding their habitat, behavior, and anatomy.

The captured seadragons lead to the conclusion that the Ruby Seadragon lacks the ornate appendages which are similar to leafs. They once thought that this characteristic was found among all seadragons, based on the findings in the previously analyzed Common and Leafy subspecies. They use the appendages to camouflage in seaweed or kelp meadows as a way to avoid predators.

Scientists became aware of the Ruby seadragon subspecies due to preserved specimens that were collected around a hundred years ago. Although the remains were initially misidentified as belonging to the Common or Leafy Seadragons, the researchers were able to discern that it’s a new subspecies as they assembled a rotating 3D model of the animals using a computer tomography scan from more than 5,000 X-ray slices. They were particularly intrigued by the lack of the leafy appendages.

However, the only way to confirm the existence of the Ruby Seadragon was to actually observe in the wild. The research team accomplished their objective by partnering with Total Marine Technology, ROV company based in Australia.

Image source: Scripps Oceanography/UC San Diego

Bio
Latest Posts

Nancy Young

When I was younger I used to spend almost all of my free time playing computer games. My mom and dad would go mental over this. “You’re never going to do anything with your life if you are going to play games all day” they used to say. What was even more unusual was the fact that I played more games than most of the guys in my friend group. Looking back, I have to admit that I probably played a bit too much, but I also learned a lot of great things. When I turned 20 I decided that it was high-time to make some money of my own, but the only jobs I could get were that of waitress or cashier. How exciting. After several excruciating months of serving tables I had a great idea: since I love gaming so much, why don’t I write about it? That’s when I started doing small writing projects on Elance. Eventually, I got an offer for a part-time job. During that time I learned all about content marketing strategies and how search engines work. I started writing about various topics such as technology, health and lifestyle and discovered that I was actually good at it. On November 24, 2014, I became part of the ArgyllFreePress team.